


Home (Is Where You Are)

by snaeken



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: A brief exploration of Corey's unseen home life, Canon Related, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 16:50:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19705468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snaeken/pseuds/snaeken
Summary: Mason surprises Corey at home.





	Home (Is Where You Are)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [manonlemelon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manonlemelon/gifts).



> For Manon, for the kiss prompt Corey/Mason, in the kitchen, no reason at all.

Between his three jobs, school, homework, and all of the various supernatural nonsense occurring in Beacon Hills on a regular basis, Corey’s surprised he even finds the time to breathe more often than not.

Mason on the other hand seems to take everything in his stride, never faltering, never complaining. He’s also the smartest guy Corey knows, and he can keep track of Corey’s hectic schedule better than he can himself.

Which is why it’s barely a surprise at all when someone knocks on his door not even five minutes after he got home from his second - and thankfully last - job of the day. For the sake of self-preservation, Corey turns himself invisible and makes his way downstairs, his ability to sense the heartbeat on the other side of the door strengthening by the moment. He’s never quite been able to get the hang of sensing heartbeats as quickly as the werewolves in the pack can; whether it’s a chimera quirk or a personal shortcoming, he’s not sure.

He immediately turns himself visible again when he’s close enough to tell it’s Mason outside (as opposed to a debt collector, or someone worse), breaking into an involuntary smile as he opens the door and sees his boyfriend on the other side.

“Hey,” Mason beams. “Hope you don’t mind, I know you’re free for the rest of the night so I thought I’d come over. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“I was gonna try to catch up on some homework, but.” Corey shrugs, not finishing the sentence. There are numerous statements which could go in there; _but I don’t understand most of it_ , or, _but I’m already too far behind to catch up_ , or, _but I’ll probably have to repeat this year anyway_. And the list goes on.

Mason smiles in understanding, coming inside when Corey moves out of the doorway. He heads through to the kitchen and Corey tries to will away the shame which always pools in his gut whenever Mason comes over. He claims he doesn’t mind what Corey’s house looks like and his heartbeat always remains level when he says it, but Corey can’t help but see what it must look like from outside eyes whenever Mason comes over. The sink is perpetually full of unwashed dishes, there’s a drawer stuffed full of overdue notices about the rent (or the gas, or the power, or the water...), one of the walls in the living room is damp, and the list goes on. It’s dirty.

“Are your parents home?” Mason asks, discretely moving the paraphernalia off the table when he puts his bag down. Corey sighs. He doesn’t know how many times he’s told them to stop leaving that shit lying about.

“No.” He doesn’t know where they are either, doesn’t know when they’ll be home. It’s better for him, not knowing. At least when he doesn’t know, he can pretend. “Do you want anything to drink?” he asks instead, an obvious deflection tactic which Mason also doesn’t comment on, instead offering one of his charming smiles which Corey can’t help but fall for every single time. His life might suck, but Mason makes it suck exponentially less.

He opens the fridge to a predictably barren sight; four eggs, a packet of bacon and half a carton of orange juice. He had to pick between power or food this week, and he chose power.

“So Liam and Theo’s weird thing has made a development,” Mason says while Corey pours them both some orange juice.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, they’re still using physical assault as some form of flirting. Theo made one too many short jokes and Liam lost his temper, the next thing you know Theo’s on the floor with another broken nose, and Liam is standing over him yelling _Who’s the short one now, fucker!?_ ”

“Wow, I’m sad I missed it.”

“But that’s not all.” Mason takes a drink when Corey hands the glass over, tingles shooting through his fingers when they touch Mason's. “Theo didn’t retaliate or try to murder Liam or anything. He smiled, Corey. He _smiled_.”

“Do you think they realise they’re in love with each other?”

“Nope. They’re idiots. Oblivious, in love idiots. Hey, are you hungry?”

“I’m fine,” Corey shrugs.

His stomach growls immediately in protest.

“I thought as much.” Mason unzips his bag, pulling out ingredient after ingredient and laying them out on the table. “Which is why I thought I could cook for you.”

For an awful moment Corey thinks he might actually start crying out of sheer happiness, so before that can happen he pulls Mason into a crushing hug, burying his face against Mason’s neck while they sway together on the spot.

“You’re the best,” he breathes against Mason’s neck. His gesture of goodwill comes across as exactly that, rather than the pity Corey would have taken it as if anyone else had done it.

When he finally releases Mason, he gets shooed away to do some of his homework with the valuable advice that submitting something, even if it’s late or not his best, is better than submitting nothing at all.

The scent of roasted vegetables is enough to draw Corey away from his work and back downstairs. He’s made decent progress so he’s allowing himself a break. Plus, he’s kind of starving and thanks to Mason, this is the best his house has smelled in months. Corey stands in the kitchen doorway for a moment, admiring the sight of Mason prodding at the food on top of the cooker before he can’t resist any longer. He wraps his arms around Mason from behind, hooking his chin over his shoulder and kissing his cheek.

“What was that for?” Mason smiles.

“No reason,” Corey smiles back, pecking his cheek again just because he can. “You’re kind of the best, is all.”

“Oh, that’s all, huh?” Lips quirked up in an amused smile, Mason turns on the spot to pull Corey in close to him, placing his hands on either side of Corey’s neck as they kiss. Corey never knew intimacy or vulnerability the way he does now, before he met Mason. He can show Mason every single part of him and know he won’t be criticised or humiliated for it. Mason seems to know exactly what Corey needs at all times, the touch of each individual finger searing the sides and back of his neck, grounding him to the moment and letting him keep all his focus on their kissing. He vaguely registers a dull impact on his lower back where Mason has probably guided him against the table, however he’s much more interested in Mason’s breath becoming deeper, the taste of his plush, plump lips, the way he never gets tired of this feeling.

And then the smoke alarm starts going off.

They jump apart and Mason grabs the now-charcoaled vegetables and puts them in the sink while Corey disables the smoke alarm and opens the kitchen window. After the initial panic wears off they look at each other, and that’s all it takes for the two of them to burst into laughter, Corey clutching his stomach while Mason wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.

“So much for romantic gestures,” Mason says, his voice cracking slightly from trying not to laugh again. “How about we order in? My treat.”

Corey thinks it might be love, the way he’s just as excited about that suggestion as he was about Mason cooking. It’s not the activity that matters, it’s the fact he’s doing it with Mason.

“Sounds great.” He drags Mason in for another kiss, just because he can.


End file.
